'^66 TRAVELS through 



:> 



There are very large and longcrocodiles or allig^" 

 tors in feme parts of the river Miffijippi \ they are 

 fo carnivorous, that if they find a man alleep on 

 the land, they carry him into the water and de- 

 vour him, though they are elfe very cowardly, 

 and run off as foon as one walks towards them; 

 it feldom happens that they eat a man, becaufe 

 it is fo eafy to efcape from them ; they purfue 

 thofe that fly from them, and are very formi- 

 dable in the water. The alligator is the mofl 

 horrid animal in nature and I cannot without 

 horror remember that which had almoft carried 

 me into the river of Tomhekhe^ I thought 1 faw 

 the devil juft come out of hell, and I believe he 

 could not be better reprefented than under that 

 hideous form \ its back is covered with impenetra- 

 ble 



Carthagena the Indians chew the root of this Arijlolochtat 

 and mix its juice with the faliva j if one drop of this mix- 

 ture is put into the fnake's mouth, it inebriates it, and you 

 may handle the fnake as you pleafe ; if two or three drops 

 are forced in ; and they reach the fnake's ftomach, convul- 

 fions immediatly enfue, and the reptile dies. The Indian 

 who fhewed Dr. Jacquin this method, likewife informed him 

 that he had been thrice bit by fnakes, and had always cured 

 the wound by ufing the Arijiolochia both internally and ex- 

 ternally. The plant itfelf has fo naufeous a fmell, that it 

 is always avoided by fnakes, and caufes, when chewed, 

 vomiting even to men. See Jacquin's Hilt. Seled. Stirp. 

 American, p. 232. t. 144. F. 



